Retailer Eddie Bauer To Move US Call Center Jobs To Philippines
US Bellevue-based outdoor retailer Eddie Bauer will close its call center near Columbus, Ohio, cutting more than 100 jobs, and will outsource the jobs to the Philippines, according to a report in the Seattle Times. The plan is part of a move by corporate parent Golden Gate Capital to reduce costs after it merged Eddie Bauer with a California surf-wear firm, Pacific Sunwear, a little over a year ago.
Workers tried to stop the closure of the call center, saying it is not something the original Eddie Bauer would have done when he founded the firm in Seattle almost a century ago. One of the call center workers said they believed that Bauer would not allow such a thing to happen to his loyal American workforce if he was still alive and that he would not want his legacy to be one of sending American jobs overseas as the firm is about to celebrate its 100th year.
